Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

every now and then to observe the tremulous quivering that
crept over the siuiV.ee of his skin, the living motion which the
agony gave to each separate muscle, and the sharp spasmodic
twitches which convulsed and gradually contracted his limbs;
all this, I own, was the most harrowing spectacle I have ever
beheld in all my life. But to look into his countenance was to
forget all this. His head was raised up from the burning body,
of some
and stretched out as if fixed oil the contemplation
most celestial vision, like that of his fellow-deacon Stephen.
His face glowed indeed with the heat below, and the perspiration
flowed down it; but the light from the fire shining upward,
and passing through his golden locks, created a glory round his
beautiful head and countenance, which made him look as if already
in heaven. And every feature, serene and sweet as ever, was
so impressed with an eager, longing look, accompanying the
upward glancing of his eye, that you would willingly have
changed places with him."
"That I would," again broke in Pancratius, "and as soon
as God ! pleases I dare not think that I could stand what he
did; for he was indeed a noble and heroic Levite, while I am
only a weak, imperfect boy. But do you not think, dear
Quadratus, that strength is given in that hour proportionate to
bring your toga quite over your head; so !
THE CHURCH OF THE CATACOMBS.
It is a wet and bit-
ter night. Now, good Diogenes, put more wood on the fire,
and let us find supper ready on our return. We shall not be
long absent; and just leave the door ajar."
" Go, go, my sons," said the old man, "and God speed you!
whatever you are about, I am sure it is something praise-
worthy."
Quadratus sturdily drew his chlamys, or military cloak,
around him. aud the two youths plunged into the dark lanes of
the Suburra, and took the direction of the Forum. While
they were absent the door was opened with the well-known
salutation of " thanks to God;" aud Sebastian entered, and
of the two
inquired anxiously if Diogenes had seen any thing
young men; for he had got a hint of what they were going to
do. He was told they were expected hi a few moments.
A quarter of an hour had scarcely elapsed, when hasty steps
were heard approaching; the door was pushed open and was as
quickly shut, and then fast barred, behind Quadratus and
Paucratius.
"Here it is," said the latter, producing, with a hearty laugh,
A bundle of crumpled parchment.
"What?" asked nil eagerly.
"Why, the graud decree, of course," answered Pancratius,
iTu'leiithm, in hie bvum on St. Laurence
with boyish glee; "look here. 'DOMINI NOSTRI DiocwrnAwrs
KT MAXIMIANUS, nmcri, SENIOUES AuousTi.rATiti
"Isn.v Lin, too, as he distributed the rich plate of the
Church to thi' poor. We have never had any thine; so Kp!endid
1 since. Then were golden lumps and candlesticks, censors,
chalices and patens.* besides an immense quantity of silver
down, aiid distributed to the blind, the lame and the
indigent. "
"But tell me," asked Pancratius, " how did he endure his
last dreadful torment? It must havebeeu frightful."
"I saw it all," answered the old
"
fossor, and it would have
been intolerably frightful in another. He had been first, placed
on the Kick, and variously tormented, and he hod not utten d a
groan; when the judge ordered that horrid bed, or gridiron, to
be prepared and heated. To look at his tender flesh blistering
and breaking over the fire, and deeply scored with red burning
gashes that cut to the bone where the iron bars wont across; to
see the steam, thick as from a cauldron, rise from his body, and
hear the fire hiss beneath him, as he melted away into '
Toi;rii I.T ( !: SAUUM,'* and so forth. Hereitgoes!"
it; and
'Ai
thnist it into the bla/.iii'-; f'u'e, while the stalwart sons of l>i->genes
threw a fav In Keep it down, and drown its
crackling. There it frizzled, and writhed, and cracked, and
shrunk, first one letter or word coming up, then another ; first
an emperor's praise, nnd then on anti-Christian blasphemy ;
till all had subsided into a black ashy mass.
And what else, or more, would those be in a few years who
had issued that proud document, when their corpses should
have been burnt on a pile of cedar-v/ood and spices, and their
handful of ashes be scraped together, hardly enough to fill a
gilded urn ? And what also, in very few years more, would
that heathenism be, which it was issued to keep alive, but a
dead letter at most, and as worthless a heap of extinguished
embers as lay on that hearth ? And the very empire which
these "unconquered" Augusti were bolstering up by cruelty
aud injustice, how in a few centuries would it resemble that
annihilated decree ? the monuments of its grandeur lying in
ashes, or in ruins, and proclaiming that there is no true Lord
but one stronger than Csasars, the Lord of lords and that
;
neither counsel nor strength of man shall prevail against Him.
Something like this did Sebastian think, perhaps, as he
gazed abstractedly on the expiring embers of the pompous and
cruel edict which they had torn down, not for a wanton frolic,
but because it contained blasphemies against God and His ho-
liest truths. They knew that if they should be discovered,
ten-fold tortures would be their lot ; but Christians in those
days, when they contemplated and prepared for martyrdom,
made no calculation on that head. Death for Christ, whether
quick and easy, or lingering and painful, was the end for which
they looked ; and like brave soldiers going to battle, they did
not speculate where a shaft or a sword might strike them,
whether a death-blow would at once stun them out of existence,
or they should have to writhe for hours upon the ground,
mutilated or pierced, to die by inches among the heeded slain.
heaps of un-
Sebastian soon recovered, and had hardly the heart to re-
our trials, whatever they may be? You, I know, would stand
any thing; for you are a fine stout soldier, accustomed to toil
and wounds. But as for me, I have only a willing heart to
give. Is that enough, think "
you ?
"Quite, quite, my dear boy," exclaimed the centurion, full
of emotion, and looking tenderly on the youth, who with glistening
eyes, having risen from his seat, had placed his hands
upon the officer's shoulders.
" God will give you strength, as
He has already given you courage. But we must not forget
our night's work. Wrap yourself well up in prove
your cloak, and
the perpetrators of this deed. In truth, it had its ridiculous
side, and he was inclined to laugh at the morrow's dismay.
This view he gladly took for he saw Pancratius
;
watched his looks with some trepidation, and his centurion
looked a little disconcerted. So, after a hearty laugh, they sat
down cheerfully to their meal ; for it was not midnight, and
the hour for commencing the fast, preparatory to receiving the
holy Eucharist, was not arrived. Quadratus's object, besides,
kindness, in this arrangement, was partly, that if surprised, a
reason for their being there might be apparent, partly to keep,
up the spirits of his younger companion and of Diogenes's
household, if alarmed at the bold deed just performed. But
there was no appearance of any such feeling. The conversation
soon turned upon recollections of Diogenes's youth, and
the good old fervent times, as Pancratius would persist in calling
them. Sebastian saw his friend home, and then took a
round, to avoid the Forum hi seeking his own abode. If anyone
had seen Pancratius that night, when alone in his chamber
preparing 6> retire to rest, he would have seen him every now
and then almost laughing at some strange but pleasant adven-
ture.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE DISCOVERT.
AT the first dawn of morning, Corvimis was up; and. notwithstanding
the gloominess of the day, proceeded straight to
the Forum. He found his outposts quite undisturbed, and
hastened to the principal object of his care. It would be use-
" Our lords Dioclesiin ami Maxiiaiaa, DM uuoouquend, elder Augiuti
faUiera of the Emperors and Ce8Sr."